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| Your phone isn’t rotting your brain |
| You’ve heard the worry. Screens dull the mind. Some call it “digital dementia.” The data says the opposite. |
| Two researchers — Jared Benge at the University of Texas and Michael Scullin at Baylor — pooled 57 studies. That’s 411,000 adults, average age about 69. They asked one plain thing. Do people who use computers, phones and the internet think worse as they age? |
| Let me explain what they found. Tech users had 58% lower odds of serious memory trouble. Their decline over the years was slower too. Fifty-one of the 57 studies pointed the same way. |
| Why would a phone help? Because using one is a small workout for the mind. You solve problems. You learn new buttons. You stay in touch with people. Researchers call it a “technology reserve” — like money in a savings account your brain can draw on later. |
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This doesn’t prove the phone did it. Sharper minds may simply reach for tech more often. But there’s no sign it hurts — and good reason to think it helps. |
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| I could be wrong on the cause. We’re reading a pattern, not a proof. But I believe the fear here is backwards. |
| So I urge you to keep wrestling with that phone. Every fumble is a rep for your brain. |
| Nature Human Behaviour · 2025 |
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| Sit in the heat for your brain |
| A hot sauna may protect your mind. It’s warm, quiet, and easy on the joints. And the science behind it is stronger than you’d guess. |
| The heat pushes your heart rate up, much like a gentle walk. Blood vessels open. More blood reaches the brain. Your body also makes “heat-shock proteins” — a small repair crew that helps tidy up stressed cells. |
| Finnish researchers followed about 2,300 middle-aged men for two decades. The men who used a sauna four to seven times a week had 66% lower odds of dementia than the once-a-week group. That’s a wide gap. |
| You don’t need a fancy setup. You need a routine. |
| The Protocol |
| When |
| A few evenings a week, or right after you exercise. |
| Duration |
| 15–20 minutes, around 4 times a week, at about 80°C (175°F). |
| Rules |
| Drink water before and after. Skip the alcohol. New to it? Start with 5–10 minutes and build up. Step out if you feel dizzy. |
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| One honest note. This was men only, and sauna-goers may be healthier to start with. Still, the heart-and-vessel logic holds. Check with your doctor first if your heart or blood pressure is a concern. Then I urge you to try it — and enjoy it. |
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| A pet may guard the mind of someone who lives alone |
| Researchers tracked 7,945 older adults in England. Among those living alone, pet owners lost verbal memory and word skills more slowly than non-owners. The edge vanished for people who lived with others. A dog or a cat, it seems, fills some of the daily back-and-forth a housemate would give. This is a pattern, not proof — but a warm one. |
| JAMA Network Open · December 2023 |
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| A reason to get up may protect memory |
| A sense of purpose seems to matter. Researchers at UC Davis followed more than 13,000 adults for up to 15 years. Those who felt their life had purpose were about 28% less likely to slip into memory trouble. Purpose can be small — a garden, a grandchild, a Tuesday shift you can’t skip. It’s the plain feeling that someone or something needs you. Find yours. |
| American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025 |
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| Your resting pulse may be a warning light |
| Sit still and count your pulse. That number matters. In a Stockholm study of 2,147 older adults, researchers watched resting pulse. Those with a rate of 80 beats a minute or higher had a 55% higher dementia risk than the 60–69 group. The link held even after heart disease was counted. A fast resting pulse can flag a heart under strain — and the brain rides on the heart. Know your number. Ask your doctor if it runs high. |
| Alzheimer’s & Dementia · 2021 |
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| Does testosterone therapy protect a man’s brain? |
| Side A |
| Many men past 55 run low on testosterone. They feel it — tired, foggy, flat. Some who start therapy say their thinking sharpens and the fog lifts. There’s a logic to it. The brain has docking points for testosterone, right in its memory regions. And low testosterone tracks with weaker scores on thinking tests. The clinics that prescribe it, and much of the biohacking crowd, swear it helps the aging mind. |
| Side B |
| Then the big trial landed. Researchers gave testosterone gel or a dummy gel to 788 men over 65 with low levels, for a full year. On memory, on planning, on overall thinking — no gap between the two groups (JAMA, 2017). One skeptic put it plainly. Giving back a single hormone may be like fixing one of four flat tires. The rest of the body has aged too. |
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